roast chicken with dijon sauce This is a story about closets, and how messy they can get when you spend a year caring for a baby and put things away so haphazardly that one day, they won’t close at all and you beg your in-laws to watch the baby for a few hours so you can go to a barget some sleepclean out your closets. Yep, things can get that bad. But if I hadn’t cleaned out this closet, I wouldn’t have snuck off to the bedroom for a while with an old issue of Gourmet I discovered in a totebag, the French Bistro one, and found a chicken recipe I couldn’t believe I hadn’t made yet. So it’s not just a story about closets, phew. Mostly, though, this is a story about our new favorite chicken dish. One year ago: Mixed Citrus Salad with Feta and Mint and Edna Mae’s Sour Cream PancakesTwo years ago: Bittersweet Chocolate and Pear Cake and Chicken Milanese with an Escarole SaladThree years ago: Leek and Swiss Chard TartFour years ago: Paula Wolfert’s Hummus Roasted Chicken with Dijon Sauce Adapted from Gourmet, March 2008
Carrot Cake Recipe Years ago, when I was still in college, someone gave me a copy of the Silver Palate cookbook. I remember many of the recipes being over the top, both for my palate and budget at the time, and come to think of it, my cooking skill as well, but I still loved this book. The carrot cake recipe I photocopied and sent to my parents, with the note, “Make this cake, it’s great!”. Carrot cake had always been my favorite, and this recipe? Who ever heard of putting coconut AND pineapple in a carrot cake? Over the years my father has made this cake for my birthday countless times, even driving hours to deliver it when I lived in Palo Alto or San Francisco. Ingredients Cake: Frosting: 8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature6 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temp2 1/2 cups of confectioners' sugar1 teaspoon vanilla extract2 Tbsp lemon juice Method 1 Preheat oven to 350°F. 2 Sift dry ingredients into a bowl. 3 Pour batter into pans. 5 Once cakes have cooled, frost.
Lemon Cheesecake in a Jar I’m officially done with work for the school year and I must admit, I’m pretty stoked about doing my own thing for the next few months. No alarm clock buzzing in my ear at 5:45, no last minute wardrobe changes because I’m a clutz with my morning coffee and certainly no more fitting in baking time between chores and dinner. The summer gives me the opportunity to experience what it would be like to blog full time and I must say, I’m kind of digging it. The first couple of days were spent basking in the fact that there is nothing I have to do. I watched random TV shows – hello, Breaking Pointe on the CW – who knew ballerinas could be so catty?! Watched way too many makeup videos on YouTube and filled a virtual cart at both The Gap and The Limited. You know that I am a sucker for anything mini – especially when the mini-fied creations are served in Weck jars (see the notes section below for details). If you enjoyed this recipe, you may like...
blueberry crumb bars I uploaded pictures of this recipe yesterday onto Flickr, but didn’t get to telling you all about it because I was feeling a little lackadaisical after that whole seven days in a row of posting thing. Three hours later, I received this comment: “Omg, post the recipe already!” Hmmph! I thought. The natives are getting restless. But who could blame them? It could get ugly. But if there ever were a dessert worth getting ugly for, it would have to be this. “Omg, post the recipe already!” As you wish. Blueberry Crumb Bars Adapted from AllRecipes.com Recipes like this make me wonder why I don’t use AllRecipes.com more. I could imagine easily swapping another fruit or berry for the blueberries–I’m especially thinking something tart like sour cherries or cranberries in the fall (I’d use orange instead of lemon with cranberries). These are easiest to cut once chilled, and store even better in the fridge than they do at room temperature–something unusual for cookies! 1. 2. 3. 4.
Red Berries Tray Bake with Cheesecake Ripple - Berry Week #2 I am a girl and I love pink. Well, maybe a woman now, hehe. Well, girls seem to be born with this liking for pink. My girls love pink. I am not pink crazy that I love my car or room to be pink, dressed in pink from top to toe, pink lipstick and eyeshadow, but when cakes or desserts come in pink, I am totally swooned. Not that I don’t love plums that I don’t want to use them like Patricia did. At first I wanted to use some blueberries too, but then I don’t want to spoil the “pinkness” in this cake. Red Berries Tray Bake with Cheesecake RippleSources: Cream cheese mixture 125gm cream cheese 2 Tbsp sugar 1 tsp vanilla extract Cake batter 120gm butter 120gm soft brown sugar 2 eggs ½ tsp vanilla extract 140gm all purpose flour 1/ 2 tsp baking powder 200gm raspberries and strawberries 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Verdict: Very soft and moist!!! Do not keep it at room temperature for more than 24 hours.
cappuccino fudge cheesecake Given that it is but two days after one of the most indulgent meals of the year, I suspect the last thing you want to hear about is the most indulgent cake I have ever made, and yet, given the quality of the last two vegetable-focused, lighter dishes I have made — both of which I’d give a resounding “eh” — trust me, what I’ve got going on here is much more worthy of your attention, and your table at some distant dinner party. So pull up a chair. Because this cake is ridiculous, ridiculous bordering on obscene, so obscene that even a wee sliver of it takes an eating intermission mid-slice just to get through. Perhaps you’ll go get yourself a glass of water, do some stretches or deep yogic breathing, but I guarantee that you’ll do whatever it takes to psych you up enough to take on the second half. Because did I mention the part where this cake is ridiculous? From there, a normal cheesecake would delve into the, you know, cheesecake layer.
Healing foods reference database Devil’s Mini-Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting I made these little cakes for my son’s school birthday party. We’d been arguing for a while if they should (or should not) have colored sprinkles on their tops. Tim kept saying that the sprinkles could significantly increase the cupcakes’ popularity. Makes 48 mini-cupcakes For the cupcakes: 2 cups (7 oz) sifted (before measuring) cake flour1 tsp baking soda¼ tsp salt½ cup sifted natural cocoa powder½ cup lukewarm water½ cup buttermilk, at room temperature½ cup water2 tsp pure vanilla extract2 large eggs, at room temperature8 tbsp (1 stick, 113 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature1 cup fine granulated sugar1 cup packed light brown sugar For the frosting: 1 lb cream cheese, at room temperature8 tbsp (1 stick, 113 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature½ cup sour cream, cold, right from the fridge2 cups icing sugar, sifted Zest of 1 large lemon 1 tsp pure vanilla extract1 tsp pure lemon extract Make the cupcakes: Fit parchment mini-cupcake liners into 48 mini-cupcake molds. Make the frosting:
Cheesecake Brownie Recipe If you want to see a normally placid French person go into a crazed frenzy, you don’t need to watch their reaction to me mercilessly butcher their language. One just needs to utter a single word—cheesecake. I’ve never met a French person whose face didn’t soften and melt at the mere utterance of the word, and le cheesecake is always spoken of with a reverence normally reserved for the finest cheeses and most exclusive wines. Although can you find Philadelphia cream cheese here at various outlets in Paris, when you do find it, it’s prohibitively expensive. A couple of French supermarkets do carry their own variations on the Philly-theme, often labeled fromage à tartiner (spreading cheese). I baked a batch last week and handed them out to friends who work at my outdoor market. Chalk another one up to good ‘ol American ingenuity. 7.